Method and system for optimizing healthcare delivery

ABSTRACT

A healthcare delivery system, a wearable computing device and a method are disclosed. The method includes capturing, by the wearable computing device worn by a medical practitioner, medical multimedia data of a patient during a medical procedure. The method further includes displaying one or more selectable options associated with the medical multimedia data on a display screen of the wearable computing device to the medical practitioner. Further, the method includes receiving a selection of a selectable option from among the one or more selectable options. Thereafter, at least one action is performed on the medical multimedia data based on the selection of the selectable option. An example of the at least one action includes sharing at least a part of the medical multimedia data with a third party device.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to healthcare technology and,more particularly, to a method and system for optimizing healthcaredelivery using augmented reality technology.

BACKGROUND

Generally, healthcare refers to maintaining health via diagnosis,treatment, and prevention of disease. Healthcare delivery refers toproviding healthcare services to people by organizations such ashealthcare facilities/hospitals with the affiliation of healthprofessionals such as doctors, surgeons, physicians and the like.Delivering healthcare is a complex and multi-pronged process. Morespecifically, treatment and diagnosis of diseases can be done viamedical therapy and/or via multiple diagnostic modalities,interventional modalities, procedural modalities, surgical modalitiesand the like. In an example scenario, a surgeon may need to accessmedical imaging such as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan of apatient to review essential anatomic information for pre-operativeplanning as well as navigation while in surgery. Such medical images canbe difficult to visualize easily without an interruption to an on-goingsurgery/medical procedure. Further, it is not possible for the surgeonto use a mouse or keyboard, as they are unsterile and pose a risk ofinfection to view the medical images on an electronic device such as adesktop computer. In such scenarios, the surgeon may request hisassistant to operate the desktop computer to retrieve the medical imagesor other information related to the patient. Moreover, if the image isnot pre-stored on the desktop computer, the surgeon may have to hold theprocedure until the required images are made available to him. Suchmanual coordination of collecting patient data is a time consumingprocess. Further, a lot of other resources of the healthcare facilitysuch as the operating room, medical equipments, medical staff, specialsurgeons, etc. stay underutilized because of such manual management ofthe healthcare delivery. In addition, current medical image viewingequipments utilized in the healthcare facility are cumbersome,ergonomically unfriendly and bulky.

Therefore, there is a need to provide portability of the patient dataincluding medical history for faster decision making during the medicalprocedure. There is a need to provide an optimized management of thehealthcare delivery through the use of an augmented reality wearablecomputing device to facilitate a real time solution for accessing themedical data of the patient and sharing the data with a remote device.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present invention provide a method and systemfor optimized healthcare delivery.

In an embodiment, a method includes capturing, by a wearable computingdevice worn by a medical practitioner, medical multimedia data of apatient during a medical procedure. The method further includesdisplaying one or more selectable options associated with the medicalmultimedia data on a display screen of the wearable computing device tothe medical practitioner. Further, the method includes receiving aselection of a selectable option from among the one or more selectableoptions. Thereafter, the method includes performing at least one actionon the medical multimedia data based on the selection of the selectableoption. The at least one action includes sharing at least a part of themedical multimedia data with a third party device.

In another embodiment, a healthcare delivery system includes a wearablecomputing device and at least one server. The wearable computing deviceis worn by a medical practitioner. The wearable computing device isconfigured to capture medical multimedia data of a patient during amedical procedure and display one or more selectable options associatedwith the medical multimedia data on a display screen of the wearablecomputing device to the medical practitioner. The wearable computingdevice is also configured to receive a selection of a selectable optionfrom among the one or more selectable options to perform at least oneaction on the medical multimedia data. The at least one server is inoperative communication with the wearable device. The at least oneserver is configured to receive at least a part of the medicalmultimedia data from the wearable computing device, and facilitateprovision of requisite data associated with the medical procedure to bedisplayed on the display screen of the wearable computing device.

In another embodiment, a wearable computing device is disclosed. Thewearable computing device includes at least one camera configured tocapture medical multimedia data of a patient during a medical procedure,and a display screen configured to display one or more selectableoptions associated with the medical multimedia data to the medicalpractitioner. The wearable computing device also includes a sensorassembly configured to interpret a selection of the one or moreselectable options made by the medical practitioner, and a processingunit for performing at least one action on the medical multimedia databased on the selection interpreted by the one or more sensors. Further,the wearable computing device includes a communication module configuredto communicate with a third party device for sharing at least a part ofthe medical multimedia data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

For a more complete understanding of example embodiments of the presentinvention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment incorporating a healthcaredelivery system related to at least some embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example representation of a wearable computingdevice, in accordance with an example embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram representation of a plurality ofoptions facilitated for a user selection on a display screen of thewearable computing device, in accordance with an example embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram depicting a method forretrieving medical multimedia data of a patient, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram representation of a plurality ofoptions facilitated on the display screen of the wearable computingdevice based on user selection of camera view, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram depicting a method for facilitatingcommunication with an external device, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a simplified representation of a User Interface (UI)displaying medical multimedia data of a patient on the display screen ofthe wearable computing device, in accordance with an example embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates yet another flow diagram depicting a method forfacilitating optimized healthcare delivery, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram representation of a server systemcapable of implementing at least some embodiments of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 10 illustrates an electronic device capable of implementing atleast some embodiments of the present invention.

The drawings referred to in this description are not to be understood asbeing drawn to scale except if specifically noted, and such drawings areonly exemplary in nature.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The various aspects of the present invention are presented in terms ofthe embodiments, herein depicted in FIGS. 1 to 10 . The embodiments aredescribed herein for illustrative purposes and are subject to manyvariations. It is understood that various omissions and substitutions ofequivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or renderexpedient, but are intended to cover the application or implementationwithout departing from the spirit or the scope of the present invention.Further, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not beregarded as limiting. Any heading utilized within this description isfor convenience only and has no legal or limiting effect. The terms “a”and “an” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but ratherdenote the presence of at least one of the referenced item, unless thecontext suggests otherwise.

Various embodiments of the present invention provide a method and systemfor optimizing healthcare delivery using augmented reality technology.In particular, the invention discloses an application-platform/interfacethat allows for utilization of a wearable augmented reality opticalcomputing system (hereinafter referred to as “wearable computingdevice”) for capturing medical multimedia data of a patient during amedical procedure. The wearable computing device helps surgeons with aportable and ergonomic dedicated screen and complete control ofmultimedia data manipulation specifically during an on-going medicalprocedure. Some non-exhaustive examples of medical multimedia datainclude medical history, laboratory test results, medical images (suchas X-rays, CAT scans (Computed Axial Tomography), MRI scans, ultrasoundetc.), medical video data associated with multiple visual modalities(including, but not limited to, laparoscopy, robotics, angiography,interventional radiologic procedures etc.), personal statistics likesex, age and weight, medication, allergies, immunization status etc.associated with a patient. Further, the invention allows for portablyaccessing the captured medical multimedia data within a sharednetwork/private network in real time by touch free commands. Someembodiments facilitate sharing medical multimedia data with remotedevices in real time. Other embodiments facilitate receiving multimediadata from the remote devices and displaying the same on the wearablecomputing device in real time. Various embodiments of the presentinvention facilitating optimized healthcare delivery are furtherexplained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10 .

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment related to at least someembodiments of the present invention. It should be understood, however,that the environment incorporating a healthcare delivery system 100 isillustrated and hereinafter described is merely illustrative of anarrangement for describing some example embodiments, and therefore,should not be taken to limit the scope of the embodiments. As such, itshould be noted that at least some of the components described below inconnection with the environment may be optional and thus in some exampleembodiments may include more, less or different components than thosedescribed in connection with the example embodiment of FIG. 1 or withsubsequent FIGS. 2 to 10 .

In the illustrated example representation, a healthcare facility 102depicts a medical practitioner for example a surgeon (hereinafterinterchangeably referred to as ‘a surgeon 104’) having worn a wearablecomputing device 106 (e.g., a pair of smartglasses) while performing amedical procedure on a patient 108 using a medical device 110. In anillustrative example, the surgeon 104 may be any of a general surgeon,an orthopedic surgeon, an oncologist or a surgical oncologist, a dentalsurgeon, an ophthalmic surgeon, a neurosurgeon, an interventionalradiologist, an interventional cardiologist, a gastroenterologist, anangiologist, a hematologist, a neonatologist, an obstetrician, a plasticsurgeon, a cardiovascular surgeon, an ENT surgeon, and the like. Itshould be noted that surgeon 104 is merely an example, and a nurse, amedical assistant, a medical staff representative, an anesthesiologist,an MRI or an X-Ray technician and the like may also perform the medicalprocedure. Further, the medical procedure may be any type of diagnosticprocedure, therapeutic procedure, surgical procedure, emergency roomprocedure, interventional procedure or bedside procedure being performedon the patient 108.

The medical procedure may be of capturing medical images associated withthe patient 108. Medical imaging is a type of diagnostic or therapeuticmodality that creates visual representations of the interior of a bodyfor clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visualrepresentation of the function of organs or tissues. Some non-exhaustiveexamples include radiography/fluoroscopy, tomography, MRI, endovascular,ultrasound, endoscopy, laparoscopy and the like. Various medicalprocedures include capturing medical video data associated with multiplevisual modalities (including, but not limited to, laparoscopy, robotics,angiography, interventional radiologic procedures etc). Accordingly, themedical device 110 may correspond to specific medical procedure beingperformed on the patient 108. In various embodiments, the wearablecomputing device 106/smartglasses 106 can be any wearable augmentedreality computing device/system such as, but not limited to, GoogleGlass® or Microsoft HoloLens® headsets or any other similar head-mounteddisplay device.

The healthcare delivery system 100 is further shown depicting acommunication network such as a network 120 that connects the wearablecomputing device 106 (hereinafter alternatively referred to as“smartglasses 106”) to at least one server and a plurality of entitiessuch as third party devices. Some examples of the at least one servermay be a server system 112, a computing system 114, and a healthcarefacility server 116. In an example embodiment, the server system 112,the computing system 114, and the healthcare facility server 116 may bea single composite server, or each of them may have multiplesub-systems. An example of the third party device is shown as a thirdparty device 118. The network 120 may be a centralized network or mayinclude a plurality of sub-networks that may offer a direct or indirectcommunication between the entities. For example, the network 120 mayinclude wired networks, wireless networks and combinations thereof. Somenon-limiting examples of the wired networks may include Ethernet, localarea networks (LANs), fiber-optic networks, and the like. Somenon-limiting examples of the wireless networks may include cellularnetworks like GSM/3G/4G/5G/LTE/CDMA networks, wireless LANs, Bluetooth,Wi-Fi or ZigBee networks, and the like. An example of the combination ofwired and wireless networks may include the Internet.

The server system 112 may correspond to a Web-based platform (forexample, a cloud platform) capable of being accessed over the network120. In other example embodiments, a remote plug-in that uses cloudbased APIs (Application Program Interfaces) may be utilized to connectand extract the information from the server system 112. The Web-basedplatform may provision a healthcare delivery application service as aWeb service accessible through a Website. In such a scenario, aplurality of surgeons, doctors, medical staff members, nurses, assistantdoctors, medical students, patients, caretakers of the patients and thelike (hereinafter collectively referred to as end-users/users) mayaccess the Website over the network 120 using Web browser applicationsinstalled in their respective electronic devices and thereafter use theservices of the application.

The server system 112 may also be configured to store a healthcaredelivery application program and provision instances of the applicationto the end-users for facilitating optimized healthcare delivery byprovisioning medical multimedia data associated with the patient in realtime. The end-users may request the server system 112 to access to thehealthcare delivery application over the network 120 using theirrespective electronic devices. The instances of the application maythereafter be downloaded on respective electronic devices (such as thesmartglasses 106, the third party device 118 and the computing system114) of the end-users in response to their request for accessing theapplication. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the application may befactory installed within the electronic devices (such as the wearablecomputing device 106) associated with the end-users and, as such, theusers may not need to explicitly request the application from the serversystem 112. Alternatively, the application may be requested by theend-users (such as the medical staff or the surgeons) using theirelectronic devices from the healthcare facility server 116 which mayfurther communicate with the server system 112 for accessing theapplication. It is understood that the healthcare facility server 116 isconfigured to facilitate a private network for the healthcare facility102.

In one embodiment, a user upon accessing the Website and/or thehealthcare delivery application associated with the server system 112may be presented with one or more User Interfaces (UI) capable offacilitating a plurality of options for user selection related tomedical multimedia data extraction of the patient 108. One suchexemplary UI is explained later with reference to FIG. 7 .

In an embodiment, the smartglasses 106 are configured to capture medicalmultimedia data (hereinafter referred to as data/patient data)associated with the patient 108 during the on-going medical procedure.The captured data is sent to the server system 112 over the network 120.The server system 112 is configured to process the data and to causedisplay of the data on a display screen of the smartglasses 106. Theserver system 112 is further configured to send the data to otherdevices of the healthcare delivery system 100. For example, the data maybe sent to the third party device 118 associated with end-users. Somenon-exhaustive examples of the third party device 118 include cellularphones, tablet computers, laptops, mobile computers, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), mobile televisions, mobile digital assistants,smartglasses, or any other types of communication or multimedia devices.The third party device 118 may be synced or paired with the smartglasses106 in order to send and receive various types of data. It is understoodthat there may be present a plurality of third party devices forcommunicating with the smartglasses 106.

In one example embodiment, the smartglasses 106 are configured to sendthe captured data of the patient 108 to the computing system 114 overthe network 120 for transforming non-compatible data and/ornon-compatible third party devices to be compatible for use on thesmartglasses 106. This is applicable only in scenarios when thesmartglasses 106 do not have required processing power and/or dedicatedprograms installed therein to run different types of medical multimediadata. Compatibility is broadly defined as the ability to utilize themedical multimedia data visual modalities with the smartglasses 106 viathe installation of healthcare delivery application upon powering up thesmartglasses 106 and syncing/pairing the desired third party devices.The computing system 114 is configured to include increased robustprocessing power, operating memory, and connection with externaldevices/modalities in order to facilitate interfacing between thesmartglasses 106 and the non-compatible third party devices/data. In oneexample embodiment, the computing system 114 can act as an extension ofthe smartglasses 106 as an interface to allow processing, sharing, andsaving of the medical multimedia data of the patient 108. In oneembodiment, the computing system 114 may generate a request to theserver system 112 for transforming non-compatible medical multimediadata into compatible medical multimedia data. The server system 112 mayinclude necessary program instructions for transformation.Post-transformation, the server system 112 may provision display of thetransformed non-compatible medical multimedia data on the display screenof the smartglasses 106 directly or send it back to the computing system114 for display.

It should be noted that the sever system 112 may be external to thehealthcare facility 102, or the server system 112 can be entirelyembodied in any of the computing system 114 and the healthcare facilityserver 116. Further, the computing system 114 can be embodied in thehealthcare facility server 116.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example representation of the wearable computingdevice 106/smartglasses 106, in accordance with an example embodiment ofthe present invention. The smartglasses 106 include a headband 204connected to a display screen 202. The headband 204 may be adjustablefor a comfortable and secure fit. The headband 204 includes acommunication module 206 and an Input/Output (I/O) port (see, 216). Invarious embodiments, the I/O port 216 may include such as a USB port oran earphone/speaker connector port or a power charging port. Forexample, the speaker connector port may be used to provide verbal cuesto the user or can be used to communicate with a person remotely. TheUSB port 214 may be used for connecting external devices such as thecomputing system 114 or the third party device 118 for data transfer andother such purposes.

In an example embodiment, the display screen 202 may be transparent 3D(three dimensional) lenses. The lenses may be formed of any materialthat can suitably display a projected image or graphic. The lenses mayfacilitate an augmented reality or heads-up display where a projectedimage or graphic is superimposed over a real-world view as perceived bythe user through the lenses. In another example embodiment, the imagesand other information may be projected on the user's retina, ordisplayed on the user's contact lenses. In an example embodiment, thesmartglasses 106 may include a built in processing unit 214 andbatteries for processing power (not shown). In one embodiment, theprocessing unit 214 may include required processing power fortransforming non-compatible data into compatible data for properlyviewing them on the display screen 202 of the smartglasses 106 withoutthe need of sending the non-compatible data to the computing system 114or to the server system 112 for performing the transformation.

The smartglasses 106 further include a front facing sensor and depthcamera assembly 210 (hereinafter referred to as a sensor assembly 210)for capturing user movements, position tracking and touch free commandsvia motion. Some non-exhaustive examples of the sensor may include agyroscope, an accelerometer, a compass and the like. Additionally, afinger-operated touchpad (not shown) may be provided on any part such asthe headband 204 of the smartglasses 106. The finger-operable touch padmay be used by a user to provide input commands. The sensor assembly210, along with the processing unit 214, is configured to act tointerpret gazes and hand movements of the user as input commands (forexample, a selection of one or more selectable options displayed on thedisplay screen 202). In scenarios of on-going medical procedures, it maybe more convenient for the user being the surgeon 104 to manipulate themultimedia data via the sensor assembly 210. For instance, the surgeon104 can move, pinch and rotate his or her fingers similar to themovement used to operate Smartphone or tablets, and such gestures can beinterpreted by the sensor assembly 210. The sensor assembly 210 candetect these movements in space through the use of the forward facingdepth camera and other sensors, which would allow for touch free use ofthe smartglasses 106 that would not only be convenient and efficient,but would also maintain sterility in an operating room of the healthcarefacility 102. Further, dedicated eye-movements to perform dedicatedtasks may be programmed. For example, the smartglasses 106 may capturean image based on receiving an input command of wink and may turn thedisplay screen 202 on when eyes are focused on the display screen 202for a pre-defined time period.

The smartglasses 106 are further depicted to include a front facingcamera 212 (hereinafter referred to as camera 212) to capture what theuser (such as the surgeon 104) sees. The camera 212 records and sharesreal time endeavors. The input commands for turning on the camera 212may be provided by speaking, swiping on the display screen 202, clickinga button, or using one or more gestures. In other embodiments, thecamera 212 may be provided on other parts of the smartglasses 106. Thecamera 212 may be configured to capture images or record videos atvarious resolutions or at different frame rates. In an exampleembodiment, there may be provided multiple cameras, and each may beconfigured to capture different views. In at least one embodiment, theforward-facing image captured by the camera 212 may be used to generatean augmented reality where computer generated images appear to interactwith the real-world view perceived by the user. The camera 212 isconfigurable to zoom in on a desired area to display on the displayscreen 202. Zooming can be accomplished using gestures or other inputcommands. In one embodiment, there is also provided a microphone 208 forreceiving voice commands and recording sounds/speech as needed. In anembodiment, the user may be enabled to customize or change whatinformation/options/tasks are displayed and when they are displayedusing various input commands such as voice command, gestures, through apredefined user profile and the like.

The captured medical multimedia data and associated UIs are displayed onthe display screen 202, and the surgeon 104 can perform various actionsbased on the selections made in the UI displayed on the display screen202. The selections can be made by the surgeon 104 by providing multipleforms of inputs. Some examples of these inputs may include gestureinputs, voice commands, touch based inputs, press of a mechanicalbutton, or gaze input. Such inputs can be interpreted by the sensorassembly 210 in operative communication with the processing unit 214.Some non-exhaustive examples of the actions include performingzoom-in/zoom-out of the display, sharing a part of the medicalmultimedia data with the at least one server (112, 114 or 116), or thethird party device 118, requesting requisite data needed for the medicalprocedure from the third party device 118 or the at least one server(112, 114 or 116), storing the medical multimedia data in a storagelocation, etc. Some example representation of selection inputs andassociated actions are described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7 .

The communication module 206 is configured to facilitate communication(for example, receive, send or share data) of the smartglasses 106 tothe server system 112, the computing system 114 and the third partydevice 118 associated with the user. The communication module 206 isconfigured to cause display of one or more UIs on the electronicdevices, thereby enabling the user to view/retrieve medical multimediadata of the patients. The communication module 206 may further beconfigured to send non-compatible data from the smartglasses 106 to thecomputing system 114 for transforming them into compatible data forproperly viewing them on the display screen 202 of the smartglasses 106.The communication may be achieved over a communication network, such asthe network 120. In at least one example embodiment, the communicationmodule 206 may provide Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability to thesmartglasses 106 to allow wireless connections with other devices. Suchcapability allows the user to save, recall, and share the data through aprivate network that can be created at each healthcare facility (such ashospital, urgent care or the healthcare facility 102) by using dedicatedservers such as the healthcare facility server 116 of FIG. 1 .

In an example scenario of minimally invasive surgeries, a doctor isrequired to use several forms of guidance simultaneously, while lookingback-and-forth between the surgical equipment being used and real-timeimages on a screen of a computer. Instead, the images from guidancedevices or software may be directly displayed onto the doctor'ssmartglasses by removing the tedious need to use additional screens andmaking procedures quicker and safer. Alternatively, if a nurse wants toknow measurement of a depth of a wound using the smartglasses, she maypoint her finger on wound. The camera 212 may capture an image or recorda video of the wound as necessary based on detection of pointed fingerand/or a voice command received from the nurse such as “Measure depth ofthe wound”. The captured image/video may be sent to the server system112 which may provide appropriate result on the smartglasses being usedby the nurse such as “The wound is two centimeters deep.” The output maybe provided in text format or voice format.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram representation 300 of a plurality ofoptions facilitated for a user selection on the display screen 202 ofthe wearable computing device 106, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention. As shown, the plurality of optionsare represented by boxes 350, 302, 304, 306, 308 and 310. In anembodiment, as the smartglasses 106 (with or without the computingsystem 114) is turned ON, the healthcare delivery application isactivated and one or more API calls are made to the server system 112 tocause display of the box 350 with text “Main Menu” for user selection onthe display screen 202 of the smartglasses 106. From the “Main Menu”,the user can navigate via touch free commands that could be acombination of gaze, hand gestures, and voice commands. As shown in therepresentation 300, upon receiving user selection of “Main Menu”, the UImay display one or more options for user selection such as, but notlimited to the box 320 with text “Clinical Information”, the box 304with text “Camera View”, the box 306 with text “Share view”, the box 308with text “Imaging Data” and the box 310 with text “External Devices”.

In one example embodiment, when a user selection corresponding to“Clinical Information” (box 302) is received, the server system 112 isconfigured to perform corresponding action for example transmittingdata/information related to the patient to be displayed through one ormore UIs on the display screen 202 of the smartglasses 106. In anembodiment, this data may have been previously saved onto thesmartglasses 106 directly, or through the computing system 114, or onthe privately shared network facilitated by the healthcare facilityserver 116 inside the healthcare facility 102. The information displayedmay include, for example, the patient's profile and a diagnosis profile.The patient's profile may further include his/her name, birth date, amedical record number, chief complaint, gender and the like. Thediagnosis profile may include previous and current diagnoses, previousand current medications, patient preferences and the like.

In one example embodiment, when the user selection of “Camera View” (box304) is received, the camera 212 embedded in the smartglasses 106 isenabled to capture images and videos. The image and videos may be storedin the local storage space of the smartglasses 106 or they may be sentto the server system 112 or the computing system 114 for externalstorage and later retrieval. More features of “Camera View” areexplained later in detail with reference to FIG. 5 .

In an example embodiment, when the user selection of “Share View” (box306) is received, the communication module 206 is enabled to performcorresponding action for example sharing the recording videos orcapturing images with the server system 112, the computing system 114 orthe third party device 118. Such medical multimedia data can be sharedwith one or more compatible third party devices. For example, in ascenario where multiple smartglasses are being used by a plurality ofsurgeons during a medical procedure, one of the surgeons may bedesignated with administrative rights to share his live camera view withother compatible smartglasses being used by the remaining surgeons. Theadministrative rights may also allow the smartglasses to takephotographs and video recording of the camera view while sharing thelive view simultaneously. In one embodiment, this information is thenaccessible instantaneously via “Clinical Information” (box 302).

In one embodiment, when the user selection of “Imaging Data” (box 308)is received, a two dimensional (2D) or a three dimensional (3D) view maybe represented to the user through one of the UIs on the display screen202. In another example embodiment, patient specific stored imaging data(as would be provided when “Imaging Data” is selected by the user) mayalternatively be accessed via the “Clinical Information” (box 302). Inan example embodiment, when the surgeon using the smartglasses 106enters an operating room, the patient's clinical information (such asnotes, images, videos etc.) may be automatically displayed on thedisplay screen 202 in anticipation of the surgical time-out andpre-operative checklists.

In yet another embodiment, when user selection of “External Devices”(box 310) is selected, one or more compatible external devices/thirdparty devices are provisioned on the display screen 202. In anembodiment, the external devices (such as the third party device 118,the computing system 114 of the FIG. 1 ) can be synced/paired with thesmartglasses 106 to communicate with the smartglasses 106. Uponselection of the desired external device/third party device, thesmartglasses 106 and the selected third party device may communicatewith each other in real time. For example, a tablet associated with amedical student in a remote location may be enabled to receive livevideo from the smartglasses 106 being used by a physician during anon-going medical procedure for educational purposes. A simplifiedrepresentation of a UI displaying medical multimedia data of a patienton the display screen 202 of the smartglasses 106 is explained later indetail with reference to FIG. 7 .

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram depicting method 400 forretrieving medical multimedia data of a patient, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention. The various steps and/oroperations of the flow diagram, and combinations of steps/operations inthe flow diagram, may be implemented by, for example, hardware,firmware, a processor, circuitry of at least one of the smartglasses106, the server system 112, the computing system 114 of the presentinvention and/or by a different device associated with the execution ofsoftware that includes one or more computer program instructions.

At 402, a user selection to retrieve clinical information is receivedthrough at least one UI on a display screen of a wearable computingdevice. A user may provide gesture based or voice based commands to thewearable computing device (such as the smartglasses 106) for retrievingthe clinical information using the UI on the display screen (such as thedisplay screen 202).

At 404, patient identifier information is facilitated through the atleast one UI on the display screen of the wearable computing device. Thepatient identification information includes such as, but not limited to,last name, first name, date of birth, medical record number, gender,age, etc., of a plurality of patients as recorded therein. In oneembodiment, the user may be enabled to enter identification informationof a desired patient by using various input commands to retrieveassociated clinical information. In another example embodiment, uniqueidentification information associated with each patient from among theplurality of patients may be displayed through the UI for userselection.

At 406, a user selection of a patient is received based on the patientidentifier information.

At 408, medical multimedia data associated with the patient arefacilitated on the display screen of the wearable computing device.Based on the user selection of relevant/desired patient, the serversystem 112 (or the computing system 114 or the healthcare facilityserver 116) is configured to review the associated medical multimediainformation/data stored in a database accessible to the server system112 (or the computing system 114 or the healthcare facility server 116).The medical multimedia data may include, such as, but not limited tonotes, documents, laboratory reports, medical imaging data, recordedvideo files, physiological parameters, adverse condition predictions,tasks to be performed by the caretaker of the patient (such as thepatient 108) upon discharge and the like. These options can be accessedconcurrently via a multi-windows capability through at least one UI onthe display screen of the wearable computing device. In an embodiment, auser selection to view stored notes or documents would display thedesired documents associated with the relevant patient. In a similarmanner, the user selection to view stored laboratory reports woulddisplay the desired laboratory reports (such as blood reports). Further,user selection to view stored imaging data would display the storedimaging data (such as X-rays). The note, documents, imaging data andlaboratory reports can be left open, closed, reopened, and accessed onceor repeatedly. In one embodiment, clinical information may be referredto as the medical multimedia data of the patient.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram representation 500 of a plurality ofoptions facilitated on the display screen 202 of the wearable computingdevice 106 based on the user selection of “Camera View” (box 304 of FIG.3 ), in accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.In an embodiment, based on the user selection of “Camera View” (box304), the camera 212 is turned on and the user is provided with aplurality of options as represented by boxes 502, 504, 506 and 306. Inan example embodiment, the box 502 with text “Enter Patient Information”may be provisioned to request a user to enter information related to apatient. The information could include last name, first name, date ofbirth, medical record number, gender, age, date of procedure/study, andtime of procedure/study. The information can be inputted via the virtualkeyboard and/or voice commands. In an example embodiment, the user maybe enabled to bypass entering of patient information and directed tooptions as provisioned by the boxes 306, 504 and 506.

The box 504 with text “Record a Video” and the box 506 with text“Capture Images” allow user to record a video of an on-going medicalprocedure and capture images respectively. An example may be recordingand capturing important or pertinent aspects and findings of theprocedures to be utilized later as baseline information for the purposesof diagnosis, treatment, discussion, consultation, and ultimatelyoptimizing the healthcare delivery. In another example scenario of aninteraction/consultation with a patient, theclinicians/physicians/surgeons can record entire consultations with thepatient and revisit the recorded footage at any time later, therebyproviding patients with their full attention. Such facilitation preventsthe clinicians from the worry of forgetting details of the interactionor procedure, taking paper based notes about the patient and maintainingfile records of the notes and helps in reducing the time spent betweenconsultations and allowing clinicians to spend more time with eachpatient.

In one embodiment, the captured data (audio, video, images, and patientinformation) may be stored on local storage space of the smartglasses106, external memory of the computing system 114, storage modules of thehealthcare facility server 116 or the database of the server system 112.In an example embodiment, the camera 212 is able to record and analyzepictures/images of the patient's face during a consultation to havepatient's medical data displayed on the display screen 202 of thesmartglasses 106. This type of photo recognition is most utilized in anemergency room (ER), where a large number of patients are being seen ina short period of time.

In another embodiment, an option to select “Share View” (box 306) mayoptionally be facilitated to the user upon selection of “Camera View”(box 304). As explained with reference to FIG. 3 , the user selection of“Share View” would facilitate sharing of medical multimedia data withother compatible external devices/smartglasses being used by one or moredifferent users. In one embodiment, the “Share View” option may beconfigured to always continue to function even if the user continues tocapture multimedia data of the patient. For example, during medicalprocedures that have limited space and vantage points, a primarypractitioner may need hands on assisting and therefore needs to shareview for the assistant so that the procedure can progress safely andefficiently. In another example, when a trainee/assistant doctorencounters an issue during a medical procedure, generally, most of thedata discussion occurs by telephone with superior doctor. The superiordoctor is unable to access the data that the trainee sees, which iswhere the video conferencing of smartglasses 106 has a greater potentialfor sharing data, evaluating the trainee's performance and successfullyadvising the trainee to perform the medical procedure remotely.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram depicting method 600 for facilitatingcommunication with an external device, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention. it is noted that external deviceand third party device are interchangeably used throughout thedescription without deviating from the scope. The various steps and/oroperations of the flow diagram, and combinations of steps/operations inthe flow diagram, may be implemented by, for example, hardware,firmware, a processor, circuitry and/or by the smartglasses 106 or theserver system 112 or the computing system 114 of the present inventionand/or by a different device associated with the execution of softwarethat includes one or more computer program instructions.

At 602, a user selection to view a list of available external devices isreceived through at least one UI on a display screen of a wearablecomputing device. A user may provide gesture based or voice basedcommands to the wearable computing device (such as the smartglasses 106)for retrieving the list of available external devices using the UI onthe display screen (such as the display screen 202).

At 604, a list of compatible external devices is facilitated through theat least one UI on the display screen of the wearable computing device.If an external device is not compatible with the wearable computingdevice, the computing system 114 is used to process the external devicedata and make it compatible to be used with the wearable computingdevice. Alternatively, the external device may install the healthcaredelivery application for resolving compatibility related issues. When anexternal device is paired/synced using the healthcare deliveryapplication, such a device is shown on the display screen of thewearable computing device as compatible external device.

At 606, a user selection to connect to a compatible external device isreceived from the list of compatible external devices.

At 608, real time view of data shared by the connected external deviceis facilitated on the display screen of the wearable computing device.For example, a pathologist may be able to share requisite data, forexample laboratory results, of a patient using his device (such as thethird party device 118) to a wearable computing device being used by adoctor.

At 610, one or more options to store the shared data are facilitated foruser selection. For example, the user can capture images or record videoof the live display being shared by the external device and save thedata in a database. The stored data can be accessed instantaneously viathe user selection of “Clinical Information” (box 302 of FIG. 3 ).

FIG. 7 illustrates a simplified representation of a User Interface (UI)700 displaying medical multimedia data of a patient on the displayscreen 202 of the wearable computing device 106/smartglasses 106, inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention. Asshown, the UI 700 is configured to display a plurality of windows suchas 702, 704, 706, 708, and 710 on the display screen 202 of thesmartglasses 106. It is noted that the healthcare delivery applicationplatform may include several UIs in addition to the UI 700.

A window/widget 702 is depicted to include “Main Menu” (box 350) with adrop-down arrow depicted to further display boxes 302-310 respectivelyrepresenting “Clinical Information”, “Camera View”, “Share View”,“Imaging Data” and “External Devices” capable of receiving userselection. Use selection/input commands may be provided in variouspossible ways such as a voice command, a gaze command, a gesture commandand the like. When “Clinical Information” (box 302) is selected by theuser, a widget 704 may be displayed to the user using the UI 700 on thedisplay screen 202 of the smartglasses 106. In the illustrated examplerepresentation, the window 704 includes identification informationrelated to a patient via boxes 704 a, 704 b and 704 c respectivelyshowing “DOB” (Date of birth), “MRN” (Medical Reference Number) and“Gender” of the patient. In other examples, additional information suchas profile picture, name, address etc. of the patient may also bedisplayed. Functions associated with the boxes 304-310 of the window 702are not repeated again herein as they are explained in detail withreference to FIGS. 3, 5 and 6 and may similarly be displayed in amulti-windows representation as explained with reference to UI 700.

The UI 700 is further depicted to display a window/widget 706 with adrop-down arrow to display options for user selection to view medicalimages of a patient (such as the patient 108) in 2D or 3D format. Forinstance, when a user selection of “Open 2D Image” (box 706 a) isreceived a corresponding 2D image of the patient may be displayed asdirected by a dashed arrow in a window 708. The window 708 exemplarilydisplays a 2D image view of a knee joint of a patient. Similarly, whenuser selection of “Open 3D Image” (box 706 b) is received, acorresponding 3D image in a new window 710 may be displayed. The window710 exemplarily displays 3D image view of the knee joint shown in thewindow 708. In an embodiment, compartmentalization of the captured datais facilitated by the computing system 114 or the server system 112. Forexample, the data corresponding to different visual modalities may beclubbed together based on their types and then saved into the databaseof the computing system 114 or the server system 112. Further, the datacan be clubbed together based on the date of capture. In an exampleembodiment, the multi-windows capability as explained with reference toUI 700 allows for keeping “Clinical Information” (box 302) to be alwayspresent using the widget 704, while utilizing other options such thatsaved multimedia data may be played back on the smartglasses 106instantaneously based on user request.

In at least one example embodiment, the provisioning of the plurality ofoptions at any time based on input commands corresponding to any of thewidgets/windows explained above may cause one or more applicationprogramming interface (API) calls to the computing system 114 or to theserver system 112 (shown in FIG. 1 ). In an embodiment, the computingsystem 114 (or the server system 112) may associate a Hyperlink TextMarkup Language (HTML) tag or a JavaScript tag with the windows(702-710), which may be activated upon receiving an input command fromthe user. The activation of the tag may be configured to generate APIcalls to the computing system 114 (or the server system 112). The APIcalls may be embodied in form of a data signal capable of being securelytransmitted over a communication network, such as the network 120. Thecomputing system 114 or the server system 112, upon receiving such acommunication, may be configured to cause display of one or more UIscapable of showing medical multimedia data of a patient and enabling theuser to further select the medical multimedia data for viewing, storingand sharing with third party devices. The display of such a UI may beeffected in substantially real-time (for example, on the order ofmilliseconds) subsequent to the provisioning of a user selectionreceived corresponding to any widget/window.

FIG. 8 illustrates yet another flow diagram depicting a method 800 forfacilitating optimized healthcare delivery, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention. The various steps and/oroperations of the flow diagram, and combinations of steps/operations inthe flow diagram, may be implemented by, for example, hardware,firmware, a processor, circuitry and/or by the server system 112 or bythe smartglasses 106, or by the computing system 114 or the healthcarefacility server 116 of the present invention and/or by a differentdevice associated with the execution of software that includes one ormore computer program instructions. It should be noted that tofacilitate discussions of the flowchart of FIG. 8 , certain operationsare described herein as constituting distinct steps performed in acertain order. Such implementations are examples only and non-limitingin scope. Certain operations may be grouped together and performed in asingle operation, and certain operations can be performed in an orderthat differs from the order employed in the examples set forth herein.Moreover, certain or all operations of the methods 800 are performed inan automated fashion. These operations involve substantially nointeraction with the user. These operations may involve interaction withthe user via one or more user interface presentations.

At 802, medical multimedia data of a patient during a medical procedureis captured by a wearable computing device worn by a medicalpractitioner.

At 804, one or more selectable options associated with the medicalmultimedia data are displayed on a display screen of the wearablecomputing device to the medical practitioner. In an embodiment, one ormore selectable options for user selection through the at least one UIon the display screen of the wearable computing device are facilitatedto the medical practitioner.

At 806, a selection of a selectable option from among the one or moreselectable options is received. The selection can be made by the medicalpractitioner using many forms of inputs such as gesture inputs, voicebases inputs or gaze inputs.

At 808, at least one action on the medical multimedia data is performedbased on the selection of the selectable option. The at least one actionincludes sharing at least a part of the medical multimedia data with athird party device. In one embodiment, communication of the wearablecomputing device with a plurality of third party devices is facilitated.The plurality of third party devices may include a compatible thirdparty device and a non-compatible third party device.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram representation of the server system112 or the healthcare facility server 116 or the computer system 114capable of implementing the various embodiments of the presentinvention. The server system 112 includes at least one processor such asa processor 902, a database 904, at least one memory such as a memory906, and a communication interface 908. The processor 902 iscommunicably coupled with the database 904, the memory 906 and thecommunication interface 908. In at least one embodiment, the serversystem 112 may be accessible to remote devices, such as the remotedevice 920, through a communication network, such as the network 910. Itis understood that the server system 112 may include fewer or morecomponents than those depicted in FIG. 9 without deviating from thescope of the invention.

In an embodiment, the memory 906 can be embodied as a part of theprocessor 902. The memory 906 includes machine executable instructions,hereinafter referred to as platform instructions 912. In variousembodiments, the memory 906 is a storage device embodied as one or morevolatile memory devices, one or more non-volatile memory devices, and/ora combination of one or more volatile memory devices and non-volatilememory devices, for storing micro-contents information and instructions.The memory 906 may be embodied as magnetic storage devices (such as harddisk drives, floppy disks, magnetic tapes, etc.), optical magneticstorage devices (e.g., magneto-optical disks), CD-ROM (compact disc readonly memory), CD-R (compact disc recordable), CD-R/W (compact discrewritable), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), BD (BLU-RAY® Disc), andsemiconductor memories (such as mask ROM, PROM (programmable ROM), EPROM(erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (random access memory), etc.).

Further, the processor 902 is capable of executing the platforminstructions 912 stored in the memory 906 for performing one or moreoperations. It is understood that the processor 902 can be configured ina variety of ways. For example, the processor 902 may be embodied as amulti-core processor, a single core processor, or a combination of oneor more multi-core processors and one or more single core processors.For example, the processor 902 may be embodied as one or more of variousprocessing devices, such as a coprocessor, a microprocessor, acontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a processing circuitrywith or without an accompanying DSP, or various other processing devicesincluding integrated circuits such as, for example, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array(FPGA), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a hardware accelerator, aspecial-purpose computer chip, or the like.

The processor 902 may be configured to include one or more algorithmssuch as speech recognition algorithms, face recognition algorithms (e.g.for identifying the patient), natural language processing algorithms,and one or more dedicated algorithms/program instructions toconvert/transform non-compatible third party devices/external devicesinto compatible third party devices for use with the smartglasses 106.The processor 902 is further configured to include specific programinstructions for converting non-compatible medical multimedia data fromvarious modalities into compatible version for use with the smartglasses106. The processor 902 in conjunction with the communication interface908 is configured to cause display of one or more UIs to facilitate themedical multimedia data of a patient during a medical procedure on thedisplay screen of an electronic device associated with a user such asthe remote device 920. The processor 902 is further configured to sharelive and/or previously stored data of a patient to the remote device920. For example, the processor 902 is configured to send informationstored in the database 904 such as, but not limited to, textual orgraphical data from journal articles, clinical studies, treatmentguidelines, equipment instructions, procedure checklists, or any otherrelevant medical or technical data to the remote device 920 associatedwith the user (such as the surgeon 104 or the medical staffrepresentative or the medical student). The processor 902 is furtherconfigured to receive data from the remote device 920 and store in thedatabase 904 for later retrieval. Further, the processor 902 isconfigured to facilitate various features for replaying the previouslyrecorded videos such as FF (fast forward), RW (rewind), high-speedplayback and the like.

The communication interface 908 is configured to facilitatecommunication between the server system 112 and the remote device 920.The communication may be achieved over a communication network, such asthe network 910. In one embodiment, the communication interface 908includes a transceiver for wirelessly communicating information to, orreceiving information from, the remote device 920 (such as smartglasses106, the computing system 114, the third party device 118, and thehealthcare facility server 116) or other suitable display device, and/oranother type of remote processing device. In another embodiment, thecommunication interface 908 is capable of facilitating operativecommunication with the remote devices and a cloud server using API(Application Program Interface) calls. Such communication may beachieved over a communication network, such as the network 910.

The database 904 may be any computer-operated hardware suitable forstoring and/or retrieving data, such as, but not limited to storing theclinical information of patients, other medical multimedia dataassociated with the patients, list of external devices compatible to beused with the smartglasses 106 and the like. In various embodiments, thedatabase 904 may include multiple storage units such as hard disksand/or solid-state disks in a redundant array of inexpensive disks(RAID) configuration. The database 904 may include a storage areanetwork (SAN) and/or a network attached storage (NAS) system. In someembodiments, the database 904 may be integrated within a computer systemsuch as the computer system 114 (as shown in FIG. 1 ). For example,computer system may include one or more hard disk drives as database904. In other embodiments, database 904 may be external to a computersystem and may be accessed by the computer system using a storageinterface. The storage interface is any component capable of providingprocessor 902 with access to the database 904. The storage interface mayinclude, for example, an Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) adapter, aSerial ATA (SATA) adapter, a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)adapter, a RAID controller, a SAN adapter, a network adapter, and/or anycomponent providing processor 902 with access to the database 904.

FIG. 10 illustrates an electronic device 1000 capable of implementingthe various embodiments of the present invention. In an embodiment, thevarious operations performed by the server system 112 may be implementedusing an application in an electronic device, such as the electronicdevice 1000. An example of the electronic device can be the computingsystem 114 or even the wearable computing device 106. For example, theelectronic device 1000 may correspond to an electronic device associatedwith a user, such as for example, a surgeon, a medical staffrepresentative, and the like. The electronic device 1000 is depicted toinclude one or more applications 1006, including a healthcare deliveryapplication, which serves as an instance of the application downloadedfrom the server system 112 and capable of communicating through APIcalls with the server system 112 to facilitate optimized healthcaredelivery.

It should be understood that the electronic device 1000 as illustratedand hereinafter described is merely illustrative of one type of deviceand should not be taken to limit the scope of the embodiments. As such,it should be appreciated that at least some of the components describedbelow in connection with that the electronic device 1000 may be optionaland thus in an example embodiment may include more, less or differentcomponents than those described in connection with the exampleembodiment of the FIG. 10 . As such, among other examples, that theelectronic device 1000 could be any of a mobile electronic devices, forexample, a heads-up display system, a head-mounted device, a wearablecomputing device/smartglasses, cellular phones, tablet computers,laptops, mobile computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobiletelevisions, mobile digital assistants, or any combination of theaforementioned, and other types of communication or multimedia devices.The electronic device 1000 may be to acquire, store, compute, process,communicate and/or display information such as audio, images, videos andtext related to the patient. For example, the electronic device 1000 isincorporated with glasses to capture/send/receive/display information.In another example embodiment, the electronic device 1000 is a desktopcomputer configured for receiving/sending information from/to areceiver/transmitter as well as receiving input from a remote device.

The illustrated electronic device 1000 includes a controller or aprocessor 1002 (e.g., a signal processor, microprocessor, ASIC, or othercontrol and processing logic circuitry) for performing such tasks assignal coding, data processing, image processing, input/outputprocessing, power control, and/or other functions. An operating system1004 controls the allocation and usage of the components of theelectronic device 1000 and support for one or more applications programs(see, applications 1006), such as healthcare delivery application, thatimplements one or more of the innovative features described herein. Inaddition to healthcare delivery application, the applications 1006 mayinclude common mobile computing applications (e.g., telephonyapplications, email applications, calendars, contact managers, webbrowsers, messaging applications) or any other computing application.The healthcare delivery application, in at least one example embodiment,may be configured to provide the logic to display/retrieve/sharerelevant medical multimedia data of a patient during a medicalprocedure, as explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9 .

The illustrated electronic device 1000 includes one or more memorycomponents, for example, a non-removable memory 1008 and/or removablememory 1010. The non-removable memory 1008 and/or removable memory 1010may be collectively known as database in an embodiment. Thenon-removable memory 1008 can include RAM, ROM, flash memory, a harddisk, or other well-known memory storage technologies. The removablememory 1010 can include flash memory, smart cards, or a SubscriberIdentity Module (SIM). The one or more memory components can be used forstoring data and/or code for running the operating system 1004 and theapplications 1006. The computing device 1000 may further include a useridentity module (UIM) 1012. The UIM 1012 may be a memory device having aprocessor built in. The UIM 1012 may include, for example, a subscriberidentity module (SIM), a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), auniversal subscriber identity module (USIM), a removable user identitymodule (R-UIM), or any other smart card. The UIM 1012 typically storesinformation elements related to a mobile subscriber. The UIM 1012 inform of the SIM card is well known in Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) communication systems, Code Division MultipleAccess (CDMA) systems, or with third-generation (3G) wirelesscommunication protocols such as Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS), CDMA9000, wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and timedivision-synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA), or with fourth-generation (4G)wireless communication protocols such as LTE (Long-Term Evolution).

The electronic device 1000 can support one or more input devices 1020and one or more output devices 1030. The input devices 1020 and theoutput devices 1030 configure the input/output (I/O) module for theelectronic device 1000. Examples of the input devices 1020 may include,but are not limited to, a touch screen/a display screen 1022 (e.g.,capable of capturing finger tap inputs, finger gesture inputs,multi-finger tap inputs, multi-finger gesture inputs, or keystrokeinputs from a virtual keyboard or keypad), a microphone 1024 (e.g.,capable of capturing voice input), a camera module 1026 (e.g., capableof capturing still picture images and/or video images) and a physicalkeyboard 1028. Examples of the output devices 1030 may include, but arenot limited to a speaker 1032 and a display 1034. Other possible outputdevices can include piezoelectric or other haptic output devices. Somedevices can serve more than one input/output function. For example, thetouch screen 1022 and the display 1034 can be combined into a singleinput/output device.

A wireless modem 1040 can be coupled to one or more antennas (not shownin the FIG. 10 ) and can support two-way communications between theprocessor 1002 and external devices, as is well understood in the art.The wireless modem 1040 is shown generically and can include, forexample, a cellular modem 1042 for communicating at long range with themobile communication network, a Wi-Fi compatible modem 1044 forcommunicating at short range with an external Bluetooth-equipped deviceor a local wireless data network or router, and/or aBluetooth-compatible modem 1046. The wireless modem 1040 is typicallyconfigured for communication with one or more cellular networks, such asa GSM network for data and voice communications within a single cellularnetwork, between cellular networks, or between the electronic device1000 and a public switched telephone network (PSTN). The wireless modem1040 may in at least one example embodiment configure the communicationmodule of the electronic device 1000.

The electronic device 1000 can further include one or more input/outputports 1050, a power supply 1052, one or more sensors 1054 for example,an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a compass, or an infrared proximitysensor for detecting the orientation or motion of the electronic device1000, a transceiver 1056 (for wirelessly transmitting analog or digitalsignals) and/or a physical connector 1060, which can be a USB port, IEEE1294 (FireWire) port, and/or RS-232 port. The illustrated components arenot required or all-inclusive, as any of the components shown can bedeleted and other components can be added.

Various embodiments of the present invention provide a method and systemfor facilitating optimized healthcare delivery using augmented realitytechnology. Features of the present invention improve patient care,increase efficiency, and decrease healthcare costs thereby optimizinghealthcare delivery. The application-platform/interface of the presentinvention allows utilization of wearable augmented reality opticalcomputing system for sharing protected data via private network,accessing protected data within a shared network, recording/sharing ofreal time data, providing touch free commands, instant dataavailability, including portable and ergonomic usage. In particular, theinvention is directed towards optimizing health care delivery related tosurgical procedures, interventional procedures, diagnostic proceduresand bedside procedures by optimizing access and utilization ofmultimedia data in a portable/wearable fashion. The invention disclosesan approach for providing direct access to various modalities of medicalimaging data via an application platform that is usable with thesmartglasses. Various features of the present invention may be utilizedunder a variety of different situations. For example, a patient maycapture an image of his MRI scan using his electronic device and send itto his doctor for getting a quick review of the scan. The doctor may seethe image on the smartglasses and reply to the patient by voice/videoconferencing using the smartglasses without having to allot a dedicatedconsultation appointment. Moreover, the image scan can be sent to an EMRrecorder by the doctor using the smartglasses for keeping the up-to-daterecords of the patient. Further, the various features of the inventionmay be used for medical education where a student or a group of studentsmay be enabled to view an on-going surgery as being explained by thesurgeon in real time from remote location.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specificexemplary embodiments, it is noted that various modifications andchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroad spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the variousoperations, blocks, etc., described herein may be enabled and operatedusing hardware circuitry (for example, complementary metal oxidesemiconductor (CMOS) based logic circuitry), firmware, software and/orany combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software (for example,embodied in a machine-readable medium). For example, the apparatuses andmethods may be embodied using transistors, logic gates, and electricalcircuits (for example, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)circuitry and/or in Digital Signal Processor (DSP) circuitry).

The methods or processes explained with references to the foregoingFigures may be executed by, for example, components of the server system112 (of FIG. 9 ). Particularly, the server system 112 its variouscomponents, such as the processor 902, the database 904, the memory 906and the communication interface 908 may be enabled using software and/orusing transistors, logic gates, and electrical circuits (for example,integrated circuit circuitry such as ASIC circuitry). Variousembodiments of the invention may include one or more computer programsstored or otherwise embodied on a computer-readable medium, wherein thecomputer programs are configured to cause a processor or computer toperform one or more operations (for example, operations explained hereinwith reference to FIG. 4 , FIG. 6 and FIG. 8 ). A computer-readablemedium storing, embodying, or encoded with a computer program, orsimilar language, may be embodied as a tangible data storage devicestoring one or more software programs that are configured to cause aprocessor or computer to perform one or more operations. Such operationsmay be, for example, any of the steps or operations described herein. Insome embodiments, the computer programs may be stored and provided to acomputer using any type of non-transitory computer readable media.Non-transitory computer readable media include any type of tangiblestorage media. Examples of non-transitory computer readable mediainclude magnetic storage media (such as floppy disks, magnetic tapes,hard disk drives, etc.), optical magnetic storage media (e.g.magneto-optical disks), CD-ROM (compact disc read only memory), CD-R(compact disc recordable), CD-R/W (compact disc rewritable), DVD(Digital Versatile Disc), BD (BLU-RAY® Disc), and semiconductor memories(such as mask ROM, PROM (programmable ROM), EPROM (erasable PROM), flashmemory, RAM (random access memory), etc.). Additionally, a tangible datastorage device may be embodied as one or more volatile memory devices,one or more non-volatile memory devices, and/or a combination of one ormore volatile memory devices and non-volatile memory devices. In someembodiments, the computer programs may be provided to a computer usingany type of transitory computer readable media. Examples of transitorycomputer readable media include electric signals, optical signals, andelectromagnetic waves. Transitory computer readable media can providethe program to a computer via a wired communication line (e.g. electricwires, and optical fibers) or a wireless communication line.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the presentinvention have been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit thepresent invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteaching. The exemplary embodiment was chosen and described in order tobest explain the principles of the present invention and its practicalapplication, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilizethe present invention and various embodiments with various modificationsas are suited to the particular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: capturing, by at least onecamera of smartglasses worn by a medical practitioner, medicalmultimedia data of a patient during a medical procedure, thesmartglasses including a display screen, a sensor, and a processor, thedisplay screen including a transparent lens; using a facial recognitionalgorithm via the processor to: identify the patient based on themedical multimedia data, retrieve previously collected patient dataassociated with the patient from a database accessible to thesmartglasses, and cause the display screen to display the previouslycollected patient data; receiving, via the processor, a customizationuser input customizing which selectable options are displayed;displaying, via the display screen and at least partly using a userprofile based on the customization user input, a plurality of selectableoptions superimposed over a real-world view of the medical practitionerthrough the transparent lens of the display screen; receiving, via thesensor, a selection by the medical practitioner of one of the pluralityof selectable options, the selection enabling real-time communicationwith a particular external device; requesting data, via the processor,from the particular external device based on the selection, the datarequested by the medical practitioner for the medical procedure;receiving the data, via the smartglasses, from the particular externaldevice associated with the selection in response to the requesting ofthe data, the data received by the smartglasses including at least aportion created in real time based on the real-time communication andsent by the particular external device, wherein the portion of the datacreated in real time is a result of a measurement of a depth of a woundon the patient based on an image or video of the wound captured by thesmartglasses and sent to the particular external device, the image orvideo of the wound being captured in response to detection of a gestureby a user of the smartglasses referring to the wound; and displaying,via the display screen, the data received from the particular externaldevice during the medical procedure.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe sensor is configured to receive the selection by the medicalpractitioner by receiving at least one of a gesture input, a voiceinput, or a gaze input.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:communicating with at least one server to cause at least a portion ofthe medical multimedia data to be processed.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising: storing the medical multimedia data in a databaseaccessible to the smartglasses.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein themedical multimedia data comprises at least one of medical history of thepatient, laboratory test results, medical images, or medical video dataassociated with a plurality of visual modalities.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein the portion of the data created in real time is created by auser of the particular external device.
 7. A healthcare delivery systemcomprising: smartglasses operable to be worn by a medical practitioner,the smartglasses including at least one camera, a display screen, asensor, and a processor, the display screen including a transparentlens, the smartglasses configured to: capture, via the at least onecamera, medical multimedia data of a patient during a medical procedure,use a facial recognition algorithm via the processor to: identify thepatient based on the medical multimedia data, retrieve previouslycollected patient data associated with the patient from a databaseaccessible to the smartglasses, and cause the display screen to displaythe previously collected patient data; display, via the display screen,a plurality of selectable options superimposed over a real-world view ofthe medical practitioner through the transparent lens, each of theplurality of selectable options directed to a different device of aplurality of external devices paired with the smartglasses, thesmartglasses configured for data sharing with each of the plurality ofexternal devices according to the plurality of selectable options,receive, via the sensor, a selection by the medical practitioner of anoption from among the plurality of selectable options, the selectionenabling real-time communication with a particular external device ofthe plurality of external devices, request data, via the processor, fromthe particular external device based on the selection, the datarequested by the medical practitioner for the medical procedure, anddisplay, via the display screen, the data received from the particularexternal device associated with the selection in response to the requestby the medical practitioner, the data superimposed over the real-worldview of the medical practitioner through the transparent lens of thedisplay screen; and at least one server in communication with thesmartglasses, the at least one server configured to: receive at least apart of the medical multimedia data from the smartglasses, receive thedata from the particular external device, the data received from theparticular external device including at least a portion created in realtime based on the real-time communication, and in response to detectionof a gesture by a user of the smartglasses, and facilitate the displayof the data superimposed over the real-world view of the medicalpractitioner through the transparent lens of the display screen bytransforming the data from non-compatible multimedia data intocompatible multimedia data for the display screen.
 8. The healthcaredelivery system of claim 7, wherein the sensor is configured to receivethe selection by the medical practitioner via at least one of a gestureinput, a voice input, or a gaze input.
 9. The healthcare delivery systemof claim 7, wherein, the at least one camera is operable to capture themedical multimedia data, and the medical multimedia data includes one ormore images or videos.
 10. The healthcare delivery system of claim 7,further comprising: a database for storing the medical multimedia data.11. The healthcare delivery system of claim 7, wherein the plurality ofexternal devices include a plurality of healthcare system devices and atleast one third party device.
 12. The healthcare delivery system ofclaim 11, wherein the data is guidance data for the medical procedure.13. The healthcare delivery system of claim 7, wherein, the smartglassesinclude an eye-movement algorithm stored via a memory component, theeye-movement algorithm is configured to be implemented by the processor,and the smartglasses are configured to: receive, via the sensor, adedicated eye-movement by the medical practitioner, interpret, via theprocessor, the dedicated eye-movement as an input command to execute adedicated task, and execute, via the processor, the dedicated task inresponse to the input command.
 14. Smartglasses comprising: at least onecamera configured to capture medical multimedia data of a patient duringa medical procedure being performed by a medical practitioner; a displayscreen including a transparent lens, the display screen configured todisplay a plurality of selectable options superimposed over a real-worldview of the medical practitioner through the transparent lens, each ofthe plurality of selectable options directed to a different device of aplurality of external devices paired with the smartglasses, thesmartglasses configured for data sharing with each of the plurality ofexternal devices according to the plurality of selectable options; asensor assembly configured to interpret a selection of one of theplurality of selectable options made by the medical practitioner, theselection enabling real-time communication with a particular externaldevice of the plurality of external devices; and a processor configuredto (i) request data for the medical procedure from the particularexternal device based on the selection made by the medical practitioner,(ii) cause at least a part of the medical multimedia data to be sharedwith the particular external device, and (iii) receive the data from theparticular external device responsive to the selection made by themedical practitioner, the data received from the particular externaldevice including at least a portion created in real time based on thereal-time communication, wherein the portion of the data created in realtime is a result of a measurement of a depth of a wound on the patientbased on an image or video of the wound captured by the smartglasses andsent to the particular external device, the image or video of the woundbeing captured in response to detection of a gesture by a user of thesmartglasses referring to the wound, wherein the processor is configuredto implement a facial recognition algorithm to: identify the patientusing the medical multimedia data, retrieve previously collected patientdata associated with the patient from a database accessible to thesmartglasses, detect a first dedicated eye movement by detecting, withthe sensor assembly a wink gesture by the medical practitioner, capturean image using the at least one camera using the wink gesture as aninput command, detect a second dedicated eye movement by determiningeyes of the medical practitioner are focused on the display screen for apredefined amount of time, turn on the display screen responsive to theeyes of the medical practitioner being focused on the display screen forthe predefined amount of time, and cause the display screen to displaythe previously collected patient data.
 15. The smartglasses of claim 14,wherein the processor is configured to transform the data to enabledisplay of the data on the display screen.
 16. The smartglasses of claim14, wherein the sensor assembly is configured to interpret an input madeby the medical practitioner as the selection.
 17. The smartglasses ofclaim 14, wherein the plurality of external devices include a pluralityof healthcare system devices and at least one third party device. 18.The smartglasses of claim 17, wherein the data is guidance data for themedical procedure.